Who inspires/inspired you? Favourite photographers?

In the good old days, it meant a trip to the library or a good bookstore but with the advent of the internet it is possible to look at photography from most of the big names from the comfort of your desk chair. Which great photographers have impressed you with their work? Is there anyone whose footsteps you would gladly follow in?

For me, a couple of the greatest inspirations have been Ray Metzker and Paul Boisvert.

Edward Weston and Ansel Adams

I can't say I have a favorite person, but I'm really starting to pay attention to peoples work. I actually really enjoy lately listening to people talk about how they do what they do, and what rolls through their head when their composing certain shots. If anybody's into podcasts at all, or enjoys listening to people talk about photography, this little show I've been listening to a lot lately.

http://thisweekinphoto.com/category/twip-episodes/

Sebastião Salgado (alive)
Irving Penn (deceased)
Richard Avedon (deceased)
Vivian Maier (obscure)

When I was a student I found a book at the art gallery called End Time City by Michael Ackerman which was of gritty street photography in India. That style really appealed to me, and I think it has had a bit of an influence.

I became aware of Saul Leiter's work maybe a year or two ago. When I first bought a book of his work, I realized that some of mine is somewhat similar to his. As I sorta see (sometimes) in a manner similar to the way he did, I guess he now has a more conscious influence on me. I especially gravitate to the way he used color, but also love his B&W work.
Other photographers are:
George Tice
Lilo Raymond
Bruce Cratsley
Pentti Sammallahti

I've always been impressed by photojournalists ... especially Weegee (Arthur Felig.)
His ability to be in the right place at the right time and pick up a great shot on the fly without any sort of prep or staging was incredible.

From a technical standpoint, few can beat Ansel Adams.
His Zone System has revolutionized B&W photography for those that understand how to use it.

For portrait work, Annie Liebovitz.
For studio shots, Max Wegman.

dpm802 said:

For portrait work, Annie Liebovitz.

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I would agree with you on her early work with Rolling Stone. About the time she put Whoopi in a bathtub full of milk, she ran off the rails for me. She's just doing mutual brand whoring with Vogue now. Her current images are more the product of digital compositing and retouching by staff than what happened in the camera (and I'm pretty loose with that whole SOOC thing). I would argue she's no longer the actual image creator by the time it hits a page.

http://jezebel.com/here-are-the-unretouched-images-from-lena-dunhams-vogu-1503336657

Some of these are touchups I'd do in a heartbeat. A lot of this is just poor shoot management. She's just phoning it in.

IMO some of the most interesting stuff is coming from the guys using phones. The Tiny Collective is putting out some great stuff, and I particularly like the work of Koci and David Ingraham.

But there are a lot of phone shooters doing stuff that makes the guys shooting with high end gear seem pretty unimpressive.

http://tinycollective.com/

There certainly is! I'm not at a 'good' level yet, but there's pictures I've taken on my phone that I can't seem to get through with my camera. It does have it's uses!

Cash_Stronomer said:

There certainly is! I'm not at a 'good' level yet, but there's pictures I've taken on my phone that I can't seem to get through with my camera. It does have it's uses!

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The other thing about phones is they are completely disguised. Look around on the street, and at least half the people have their phone out. You can shoot an iphone using the volume button on your headphones, and they make no noise. They have the equivalent of about a 35mm lens, so great for street shooting.

mtnredhed said:

I would agree with you on her early work with Rolling Stone. About the time she put Whoopi in a bathtub full of milk, she ran off the rails for me. She's just doing mutual brand whoring with Vogue now. Her current images are more the product of digital compositing and retouching by staff than what happened in the camera (and I'm pretty loose with that whole SOOC thing). I would argue she's no longer the actual image creator by the time it hits a page.

http://jezebel.com/here-are-the-unretouched-images-from-lena-dunhams-vogu-1503336657

Some of these are touchups I'd do in a heartbeat. A lot of this is just poor shoot management. She's just phoning it in.

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I was thinking about her Rolling Stone work when I included her on this list ... I haven't followed her too much in the last decade or so.

I see what you're saying about the after-shoot editing. But this is nothing new. Even in the days before everything went digital, photogs spent a lot of time in the darkroom using techniques like dodging/burning, cropping, tinting and playing with chemicals/timing to alter contrast and brightness to make their pictures look better for presentation.

I still think that Annie Leibovitz is (was) a great portraitist ... but we can both agree that she is resting on her laurels and is no longer producing the kind of work that made her famous.

Cash_Stronomer said:

There certainly is! I'm not at a 'good' level yet, but there's pictures I've taken on my phone that I can't seem to get through with my camera. It does have it's uses!

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The best thing about camera-phones is that you always have it with you. There are so many great shots that are gone in the blink of an eye, and you can't carry a full camera kit with you all the time. With your phone, you can grab that once-in-a-lifetime shot and photoshop it afterwards if need be. If you didn't have at least that much to take pictures with, there's nothing else you can do.

I hate it when I see guys posting pics of their shave-gear with the apology "sorry about the crappy photos, my iPhone was all I had with me at the time." There's no need to apologize. Phones can take just as good a picture as a DSLR, provided you follow a few simple rules.

In fact, my smartphone (Samsung Galaxy S4) has the best resolution of any of my digital devices. With a little bit of practice, even a smartphone can produce stunning photos. Its more about the skill of the photog and understanding the tool at hand than it is about the native capabilities of the device itself.

A person that feels it is impossible to produce good photos with a smartphone probably isn't going to do much better with a full-blown DSLR kit.

dpm802 said:

I hate it when I see guys posting pics of their shave-gear with the apology "sorry about the crappy photos, my iPhone was all I had with me at the time." There's no need to apologize. Phones can take just as good a picture as a DSLR, provided you follow a few simple rules.

In fact, my smartphone (Samsung Galaxy S4) has the best resolution of any of my digital devices. With a little bit of practice, even a smartphone can produce stunning photos. Its more about the skill of the photog and understanding the tool at hand than it is about the native capabilities of the device itself.

A person that feels it is impossible to produce good photos with a smartphone probably isn't going to do much better with a full-blown DSLR kit.

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This is so, so true! Not confined to shaving sites, the lousy picture is always the tools fault and never the person in the selfie.

dave

The deciding factor in the phone I chose, the Samsung Note, is because of the camera. Granted, I kind of needed the note pad for work, as it eliminated carrying around a memo pad, but the camera came very highly reviewed. It certainly has done me well. Here's a shot from it:

Adding Henry Wessel to the list.

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Diane Arbus

Ellen von Unwerth is my favorite photographer of contemporary women. Diane Arbus for the heartrending emotion she captured with her lens. Ansel Adams is one of my top two favorite landscape photographers. His compositions were beautiful and the the 1st time I saw his black & white work the large dark landforms, crystal clarity of every leaf, and the shimmering ripples on the water felt like being transported to an alternate reality.